THE ORIGINS OF "GRANDMA'S ARMY" II
THE ORIGINS OF “GRANDMA’S ARMY” - II Once World War I came to an end, the British gained control over the Land of Israel as part of the Sykes–Picot Agreement, which divided the Middle East between the British and French. By the beginning of 1919, the three Jewish battalions numbered over 5,000 men After the victorious end of the Palestine campaign, the name "Royal Fusiliers" was changed to " Judean Regiment ". Its insignia became a menorah with the Hebrew word " kadimah " (“forward”), and all officers and men at the front wore a Magen David on their sleeves. The actual strength of the Legion could have been more than twice as large. Applications for enlistment came from several countries; 1,500 volunteered in Salonika; in Italy 2,000, Transylvanian prisoners of war applied to be enlisted; the "Mountain Jews" from Dagestan in the Caucausus sent emissaries offering all their youth. The number of those who were allowed to actuall enlis...